Video Poker Forum

     This could all be my imagination, but here is the latest. After 6 straight positive sessions of playing CS/MC or just a very mild stand alone mild MC (Martingale Clone ), all my comp room offers have dried up. Not one is offered on the current web site. I usually stay on the house between 80 and 100 visits a year and some quick trips too without overnights. That in itself would not make me think this way, but listen to the " rest of the story ". By the way, my coin in per session is just about the same as the last few years.
     The Mrs. and I had a nice overnight last night that was previously booked and was comped. We played overnight and my play continued into the early AM. Total about 9 hours for me. In the middle of the night in a pretty much deserted area of the casino, a youngish lady plops herself down right next to me and the machine I was playing and just watches my play for the next 3 hours. She didn't ask for anything ( so no hooker ) and the only thing she said about was once an hour was bet 25 you are going to hit the Royal. She was well dressed and really intently watched my play. I would stop every so often to stretch, stand up, etc. and she still never said anything and when I resumed my play, she just went back to watching. Was she just a bored patron, or a plant by the casino? Add to that the following...after the 3 hours next to me, she just got up and walked away without saying anything. Within 5 minutes, a slot attendant showed up and just stood about 4 feet in back of me watching for the next hour. I purposely took a bathroom break and he wandered away. When I returned, he returned within 5 minutes. He finally left and another one showed up in about 20 minutes and stood there for the next half hour. At that point, I just decided to cash out and take a walk. I came back and he was gone. I took a short break in the lounge and went back to the same machine to resume play. Then a couple of suits who I don't recognize showed up for about 5 minutes each and tried to make small talk. When they realized I was trying to do math in my head, they wandered away too.
     If I had been flat betting my last 6 sessions, I would be now down 4-6 percent. All of those sessions have been Royalless which by now, I expect, but somehow, I have been able to turn my play into plus 2 1/2 percent upside sessions. I do not claim to have come up with something that will work long term. What it does do is keep my play at a moderate level for the long dud sessions, and the short flurries that come in for 2-5 minutes at a time with some nice hands are all at higher bet levels. These patterns seem peculiar to the post 2010 RNGs. If I have 50 or so good sessions with only a couple of losers, only then will I begin to claim success. Don't forget, I have had several horrible years of results, so maybe this is just the math evening up. Time will tell. I would like to have my free rooms back though. Time will tell on that too.     Edited to add....All of the play was on 9/6 quarter job games. Once in awhile, I changed denomination to fifty cents or changed the game to Deuces Wild for a few minutes to confuse the enemy. My lowest bet was 5 quarters and the highest bet was 16 quarters. Quads were few and far between, but seemed to hit after long dud streaks. Full houses also went into long dud streak modes, then came in flurries as well. Most hands that did hit that were decent seemed to come in flurries or not at all. This pattern has been the same for all 6 sessions.

That's odd Olds, I don't think she was a casino plant because she stayed by you for too long. I could see her sitting there for 15 minutes watching your play but for her to sit there for 3 hours? It is coincidental though.

Olds, you obviously spend a lot of time in that casino and are a known regular.  I don't think the casino is planting people to urge you to bet bigger.  On the other hand, if someone in the casino knows you are a $50K income producer for the casino, they probably want to protect their investment and make you feel welcome.  It does make you wonder why a woman would spend three hours watching you play, maybe it was your aftershave...I think playing small during the "slow times" is good money management for a recreational player.  What my wife and I have decided to do is to play cheap penny slots instead of playing single coin VP.  The new slots are really entertaining and sometimes you just tired of doing the same thing over and over again.  Grinding it out is boring as hell and frankly isn't that entertaining.

Interesting 3 hr $1.00. 9/6 JOB session at Borgata yesterday. Never got higher than + $50 or lower than -$150 over all 3 hrs. Cashed out at -$50.

Wow. Hell of a post to read. I'm stunned. After a half hour of this crazy lady, I would have dropped every possible flirtation, getting lewd and crude if necessary, in an attempt to make her leave. If she still stayed after my barrage, I would have left. Just hang out with your wife at that point. Who wants a psycho stalker distraction? As a bonus you would have been spared the further unpleasantries with the employees fixated on your play. What an absurd, unacceptable night. I would have cashed out and dropped all kinds of invective on them. It never gets to that stage because I up and leave upon encountering crazy lady.

Car, not bad at all. You generated a lot of coin in. To lose $50 on 3 hours of $1 JOB is nothing. I have lost that there after 3 hours of quarter JOB, with little max betting. Never our preferred result, but sometimes we must settle for a reasonable and manageable loss. I believe Ted's signature reaction would be, "better luck next time."

Olds, you obviously spend a lot of time in that casino and are a known regular.  I don't think the casino is planting people to urge you to bet bigger.  On the other hand, if someone in the casino knows you are a $50K income producer for the casino, they probably want to protect their investment and make you feel welcome.  It does make you wonder why a woman would spend three hours watching you play, maybe it was your aftershave...I think playing small during the "slow times" is good money management for a recreational player.  What my wife and I have decided to do is to play cheap penny slots instead of playing single coin VP.  The new slots are really entertaining and sometimes you just tired of doing the same thing over and over again.  Grinding it out is boring as hell and frankly isn't that entertaining.



     Could be. Even after using it for over 60 years, Old Spice still works for me. Aqua Velva does not.

     FAA...the so called crazy lady actually was not that at all. She had a nice quiet smile when I hit a good hand, but yet said nothing. She was dressed to the hilt too and I could still get a hint of Chanel # 5 which I always liked. The Mrs. was playing at the other end of the casino where her favorite machines are. I even called her a couple of times to chat on how she was doing. Didn't seem to phase the " crazy " lady at all. She did make one comment that I neglected to mention in the original post. When she first sat down, she didn't really say hi or anything, but did mention that she had been watching an " older " man playing vp in another part of the casino. She then said he was betting 25 and hit the Royal for 20k. She said pretty much nothing for the most part after that....edited to fix spelling on Chanel

Ah, Chanel! Why can't I luck into such attractive company? I do usually leave mid afternoon. Regardless, she would have interfered with my play. I would have cashed out, moved one machine over and stared daggers at her. What is wrong with people? Sitting right next to a player in an empty casino violates all etiquette and personal space norms, innocuous as it apparent was. Were she a harridan, you would have been off like a shot! And yes, anyone who kills over three hours watching two men playing VP is short a full deck. As I say, I would have propositioned her. Win win. Either she is receptive or I have successfully scared her off.

My Friday session at Bogata was literally like watching paint dry.